Tire construction.



`le., B. WIRT. TIRE GONSTBUOTION. Arrximurox FILED um. 11, 1909.

Patented Nov immuni@ In. uni. Hummm. gc.

PAUL n. wmr, o rnLooMsBUiz'o, PNNSYLYANQIA..

.TIRE CONSTRUCTION.

To all' inkom 'it muy conc-em; l

Be it known that I, PAUL E. IVIRT, a cltizen of`t11e'.U11ited States, residing at Bloomsburg,.in the county of Columbiaand State of Pennsylvania, haveninvented certain new and useful Improvements inr'Iirev Constructmn, of which thevfollowingjis a specification.

This invention relates to the subject of pneumatic tires for automobiles and other vehicles, and'more particularly' to an improved puncture-res1st1ng constructlonA for tlres of this character.l

'To this end the invention has for` a general object a ,puncture-resisting tire construction vpossessing" great strength and wearing capacity, while at the same -t-ime- 'having the necessary resiliency and flexibility. In this connection the invention also contemplates a carrying forward of the gen-` eral 'principle` of construct-ion disclosed jin',"' and covered by, my related Patents Nos. 951,869; 951,870; 951,871 andv 951,s72,a11 dated March 15, 1910.

A `characterizing feature of the tread formation disclosed in the other applications .tire, and also, insorneyphases lof the said construction, the same mvolves the produc-' tion of a tread surface made up of soft.fab

aforesaid, is that wherein the tire-tread is made up of a plurality of vflexible-units of rubberized sheet or fabric material adhesivcly compacted, faceto face, and laid.- von edge so as to 'present edges and ends-of nbc-rs .toward the wearing surface of the ric tsheets orfstrips designed to have the line of surfacecontactbroken or irregularso as tooffervgreater obstruction to objectsl or sand entering and wearing .through the -joints-:between the units or lammations.-

This generalline of construction, with all of its attendant a( lv'antages, i s lntendedto be j preserved by the present invention 1n order to provide. a wearing tread' for thetire hav!A ing maximum strength, integrity, 'resiliency,.endurance, and yieldlngwearing face,

ktogether witl1.a.maximu`rn.resistance against perforations and other injuries.

While the present invention preserves the general structural features, andthe accompanying' advantages', of theslamina'ted tire "construction wherein the lflexible forming units 'of rubberized-fabric Vare laidon edge sc .as to Vpresent edges towardk the -wearing- 4 surface of the tire, it alsohas other impor-- Spcification of Letters Patent. Patented Nov, -Appiicagipn mea Augfstirisce. seriarNt. 512,399.

tant 'practical objects in view. For- 1nstance, one of themost important objects of the form ofconstruction"claimed herein, is that of providing 'af laminated tire-tread which is `in effect made up of closely and ad- 4hesively ,co'r'npacted fabric-v strips .or leaves .which are disposed upright on the tire or' casing body, while at the "same time providing'a coreringof the-,same material rat the 3 top and bottom. of the joints between 'the leaves or laminations. It isl this covering of the la.1 nination`s,top and bottom, that secures the most advantageous results, vparticularly in preventing sand or'dust being drifted or forcedthrough and under .the tread in case there are 'abrasions vor. openi1` 1gs produced by constant wear upon its face, 'thus pre- `venting the treadstructure from being prematurely loosened .and consequently` destroyed.

It has beenv found in -practice,tl1at 'with some forms of laminated vtread structures,

`involving joints between -the .laminat-ions slight fissures. were caused by the'parting.

ofthe tread f and the adjacent Aside wall .of rubber, with the result that sand is V pounded through said fissures, down under I the rubber cote-ring of the tire, forming sand blistersor sand boils underl the rubber cov'-` ering of the ycase-'at the sides of the tread. At times this damaging action occurs practically-around the entire tire, and in some vplaces where sand` 'has been admitted through slight fissures, it has been drifted 'or pounded by the wearing of the action of the wheel on the-road, down under t-helamiL nated tread formation itself, with' t.he con' sequence of forming sand. packs, sandblisf" ter. or boils', which [grind up and disinte grate rubber andv the contiguousparts ofthe tire bonded together thereby. Itis particu- =lar1yforthe purpose of obviating injuries of this character fthat the present invention is designed, and the same therefore presents a tire-tread formation or' st-ruoture whereinthefrespectlve rubberlzed fabrlc layers com.-

posing the same are folded over,`u`pon andl against each other, in vsuch av manner :es

not only-preserve the vgeneral laminated dei sign ,herein "referred-to.. but -at the same time4 provide 'a satisfactory and :reliable 'means for shutting outfdrifting sand" or dust so.tha,t it will vnot find' entrance' under the tread-,i

'. or lunder the external' covering-foff about thetread and the'side'wallso f the 11o for the outstanding leaves or strips of the,

casing or i body. Also, the construction claimed herein is ofv such a nature that even though the face of the tread may be worn off,

-it cannot wear down so as to open up fissures lamiuatioiis, and which covering serves to lcompletely cover and close 1n theline of vkcontact or joints between the- ,leaves or strips Furthermore, in addition to the provision of means against the Ientry of sand through the tread, the present invention provides a structure having ample flexibility, and a maximum strength in every direction throughout At-he whole body of the tread.

e WVit-h these and many other `objects in view, which will more readily appear to those familiar with the art as thenature of the invention is better understood, the same consists 1n the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter i more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

The essential features of the invent-ion in volved in carrying out the objects above indicated, are necessarily susceptible to awiderange of structural modification without def parting froml the spirit or scope ofthe invention, but for illustrative purposes, certain forms of construction showing the invention, are given in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure Lis a sectional perspective view of a pneumatic tire provided with a tiretread, constructed in accordance with the present invention, this view illustrating a form wherein the folds or corrugations ir the body sheets of the tread run longitudr nally about the tire circumference. Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional V'cwvwf the tread' formation shown in Fig? 1;- ,Fig is a sectional perspective view illustrating a ortion of the body material from which w.the folded orcorrugatedbody is made, and

indicating the direction in which the folds or corrugations are made in constructing the 'form illustrated Figs. 1 and 2.

Like references designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

As herein indicated, the present invention provides la laminated puncture-resisting member for tire construction which may be said to be made up of closely and adhesively compacted outstanding fabric strips or lleaves arranged on and about the tire or casing body, the`laminated structure also incl-uding stout and substantial-covering portions or members at the top and bottom of the joint between the leaves or laminations. This construction may obviously be embodied in a `variety of forms and also utilized in various ways with any construction the present invention.

. or corrugations.

of tire body or casing, but in all embodiments of the invention, the lsame principle of tread formatioii'is preserved, so -the'invention is exemplified bythe two designs illustrated in the drawings.

Referring to the illustration of the invention in Figs, 1 to 3 of the drawings, the tire body vor casing body is designated by the numeral 1, and the improved laminated tire tread is designated in its entirety byk the numeral 2. The tire body 1 may be of any approved construction without affecting It is preferably, however, vof the type and construction' of tire body disclosedin and covered by my flo i Patent No. 951,873, dated March 15, 1910,

though it will .be understood that any form of. tire bcdyconstruction may be utilized as a base upon which is bonded into place the separate and improved tire tread 2 con? structed in accordance with the present invention. The separate laminated tire tread 2 is composed of one or more layers, preferably four, of rubberized fabric widths laid fiat upon each other, to provide a laminated body material The sheets or layers of fabric constituting the body material are cut from the original sheet of material on thebias so `as to present ends of threads toward the outer wearing surface.` The Vbody material for 'the separate tire tread is designated in Fig. 8 of the drawings by the numeral and this materiah' whether in one or more layers, is subjected, in its sheet form, to the action of suitable forining or crimping mechanism, which forms and gathers a continuous succession of folds These foldsv or ,corruga-` tions are designated generally by the reference character .4, and in the operation of 'forming the same, the said folds or corrugations are closely gathered so that the tread when, removed from its form 'or support in the forming mechanism, presents a structure wherein the folds may be readily brought into closely and adhesively compacted relation. In this form the individual folds may be said to comprise a plurality of ilexible leaves or strips 5 adhesively compacted in flat face to face relation and disposed upright on the tire or casing body l. That is, the term upright, as applied to the disposition of the individual leaves or strips 5, is intended to refer to and define the outstanding arrangement of these leaves or strips onthe tire body, thus preserving the same general principle of arrangement set forth in my other applications aforesaid. However, in addition to the individual outstanding leaves or strips 5, the individualfolds'ofthe tread structure necessarily Linclude top and bottom bights 6 andfY respectively. These b ights in thefolded fabric material, usually and preferably includ--v 1 ing several thicknesses or-- layers, 'may' be ffgQpBrly-t covering bights or mem- 'masmuch as the same respectively li'e,

.g .at and cover theztop' and bottom-of theline @contacter-)umts between the outstanding ',Jui,s `o called vertical'ber, tread :presenting' 'of the functions-andadvantages of lreads{disclosed in my said other-appli# lSenti 'n. with v the l'additional provision of `1'( Dmeans'j for 'safeguarding the tread lagainst the?.intifyv of'fforeign articles or ,sandI therethrough.' 4. l By reason of -utilizing rubberized v material -for the body-material 3 of e`ad`,th'e same may be readily manipulatedjand workedfto the iform shown in Fig. v 11111;; which; r it fis placed onand about the tread carrying-,portion of the tire 4body 1^.

`adheslve` faces' of this material, `velieri-g.-the Vfolds or,` corrugations are closely #Zag-compacted, lIiecessarily :provide interstitial i 1ayers 8 .o f rubber betweentfhe outstanding leeafves:fgtand these v.layers or fillings ,may

\ i'fis'o desired. VMoreover,v in apply-V :dat: portionsofthetiref body, and is vulcanized n iat the time the whole built-up struc. tu

"liv'ul'jcan-ized;together.v igL-Zof the drawin s illustrates l.more r y l.the intimate ama gamation between 40th 'folded orc 'rrugated tread and the rubb i" nvel'op .9110 therefor. It'will be ob- Ved `:from this igure'of the drawings that ationA described, the-tread body receives at l and retains-about it, at t-op and bottom,and .wthinrthecorru ations, a substantial body f soft rubber Wich-v materially contributes '-to: the; 4p'lia-bility and springiness l thereof,

withoutv affecting the general toughness of .the'fabricstructure itself. Also, the corru` gated form" lends itself more rapidly to. a

secure bonding ofthe parts, in vulcanizing,

structure.

1thanwould be-otherwisepossible.

I In thel form of. the inventionshown in liFig 1, the folds or corrugationsare illus- "trated as extending longitudinally ofthe circumference of the tire body, butit will ofcourse be understood that variations may be made inthe relative angular dispositlon y T ,ofV the folds or.corrugations vwithout affect- 4'ingthe essentials and-purposes of the invention. Furthermore, while for illustrative purposes only, the drawings -show only two thicknesses of materialin the body sheets,

5365 and alsojshowan lexaggeration of the folds reasonlof'the folded or corrugated for-l tobring'out the individual formation thereof, yet .it will be understoodl that the invention may be carried out with only one thickness o f body material and with folds or corrugatlons' of any 'amplitude Without departA ing from the invention'. Also, it is preferf able, in making up the fold'ed structure, to

have Vthe same tapered `at the sides of the tire body' to conform Inore `nearly 'to con ventional and practical de signs.y Also, the

feature of diminishing'the thickness of the folded structure at the sides servesto pro-- vide a gradually yielding tread .portion which is necessary. from a practical standpolnt.

Fig. 3 is simply' intended tov illustrate the sheet form of the body material in which theI folds or corrugations are gathered, and to show generally the' usual form -of the corrugations as they are .crimped up orgathered' in the forming mechanism;v This has been only generally set forth herein,`suf

fici'ently. for the .purposes of thev lpresent application, inasmuch as the exact process carriedrout in making Athis tread structure, and the forming mechanism employed therewith, form the subject matter of'a separate application filed April 11, 1910, Serial No.

From theforegoing description, it will be seen that the laminated folded structure f claimedhereinisV of such a character that ordinary wear or abrasion upon the face of the ltire will not providev an opportunity for fissure formation'between the respective layers, within and throu h which sand may enter to produce sand blisters and cause an early break-.down of the tire.` The ective layers of rubberized fabric being laid onb upon the other, and then doubled or folded in corrugations, one against the other, provide a construction inwhichall of the vlayers would have to be worn through before adirect fissure between ,the layers could be 'formed to the area under the tread. Fur7 thermore, the folded arrangement produces moreflexibility and less rigidity than other llaminated tire structures hereinbefore re ferred to, and also there is great strength .and binding qualityin'the wide sheet mate' rial forming this tire, and there are no short lengths of thread at any point in the i scribed, there is the same strength of material at the Sides-of the tire, although the folds may .-be diminished in height at those points as compared with the folds in the" center of the tire. vConsequently the tire may be readily graduated in thickness at or near the edges without diminishing strength. In short the entire folded con struction provides a tire of maximum -resiliency, integrity, and strength, .whilel at the `same time lendingitself to variations 1n the form and shape of thewearingsurface,

Agaimin the constructionl deand, in the general .arrangemenblbf parts'.

i .without ilnparing the strength Brother desirable qualities of the tire.

Other advantages of the structure described will be readily apparent to those familiar with the art.

I claim:

A tire having a punctureresisting membei" formedY of sheet material gathered into a succession of closely compacted folds pre# senting outer bights toward the Wearing snrface, said folds being graduated n'height so as to diminish in height toward .the sides of the tire structure, and an outer covering bonded onto seid outer biglits.

`In testimony whereof I :hereunto alix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

n PAUL E. WIRT, Witnesses;

C. W. FUNSTON R. L. ORANGE. 

